The catalytic converter light has come on - is this related to the emissions fix? | Ask Honest John

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The catalytic converter light has come on - is this related to the emissions fix?

I have a 2011 Volkswagen Touran 2.0 TDI. It had the Volkswagen emissions fix about six months ago and I have not had any noticeable problems with it. There was a period of it keeping the fan running after short drives but this was not common and it has not done it recently. The catalytic converter light has just come on and I wondered if this is related in any way to the recall. The car has done 66,000 miles and I've had it from new. It does mostly short journeys now but has generally been medium to long drives as it used to be my company car. Is the recall the reason or is it just fair wear and tear?

Asked on 31 July 2017 by Octy

Answered by Honest John

The fan was coming on due to increased regenerations due to more soot being created by the NOx fix. What may have happened now is that your DPF has started to fill up with ash. 66,000 miles is quite early for this. Normally 80,000 -100,000 miles. If I'm right, the ash can usually be cleaned out chemically by sending the DPF away to Ceramex and the whole job costs £400 - £500. If it needs a new DPF that will be about £1000. We are starting to monitor DPFs filling with ash prematurely after the fix, but it's early days yet.

Tags: volkswagen emissions scandal warning lights diesel cars owning catalytic converters consumer advice emissions fix ceramex dpf issues soot

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